Families say their lives are being torn apart as they face a mass eviction from a travellers’ site near Cambridge - because they are NOT travellers.

Disabled Claire Colchester, 49, and her husband Corben, 51, who is her full-time carer, have two children, Ethan, 14, and Enya, 12, and are among families caught up in the eviction from Smithy Fen travellers’ site in Cottenham.

The family moved into caravans in January this year for their son who has special needs and is set to go to Castle School in Cambridge.

But South Cambridgeshire District Council this week served legal notices on 22 plots at Smithy Fen because extra caravans had been brought on to the site and lived in illegally and gave the owners 28 days to remove the unauthorised additional caravans and static homes.

The council found some non-travellers living at the site – another breach of the planning conditions.

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Claire, who suffers with severe depression and anxiety, has epilepsy, and has recently had stents in her heart, is devastated along with other families who spoke to the News.

She said: “It’s really scary. We just don’t know what is going to happen to us. We can’t afford anywhere else and since moving onto the site both of our children have now found good friends and my daughter is finally settled into Cottenham Village College.

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“The council says emergency housing but this means bed and breakfast and that’s a nightmare. We are only being evicted because we are not travellers. It doesn’t make sense to put us through this for that reason.”

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Claire Colchester

Mrs Colchester was at All Saints Church Hall in Cottenham yesterday (July 5) with other Smithy Fen families to meet council officers for help in finding alternative accommodation or fighting the eviction.

One father-of-two, who asked not to be named, said: “I think it is absolutely disgusting what they are doing. I am just totally gutted. We’ve got two kids and they are making us homeless. We could end up sleeping on the streets. It is absolutely appalling.”

The breach of planning condition notices served cannot be appealed. The council says it has established the housing needs of the people living on site who could become homeless and “appropriate support will be given to vulnerable people”.

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There are 49 legal pitches at Smithy Fen and in general each one will be made up of a static caravan, a touring caravan and a brick built day room.

Cllr Nick Wright, South Cambridgeshire District Council’s deputy leader, said: “We have a huge amount of sympathy with people who have unknowingly rented illegal accommodation at the site.

"That is why we have carried out a detailed needs assessment as part of our investigation and our housing teams are offering support. However, it is really important to remember the caravans are there illegally and our residents would feel let down if we did not take swift and appropriate action to resolve this type of breach of planning.”